Wherever
Truth, Love and Laughter Abide
 Bill
Hicks died twenty years ago on February 26,
1994 of pancreatic cancer.
He was 32.
If alive today he'd only be 52 and most likely
in the prime of his comedic life. Without any
doubt he would not be dancing with the fucking
stars.
His famous story about the waffle waitress (See
below) resonates with me for any number of personal
reasons but
my favorite Hicks line is:
“I'm tired of this back-slappin' "isn't
humanity neat" bullshit. We're a virus with
shoes.”
I count myself fortunate to have seen his act
live at a comedy club here in Dallas, Texas,
sometime around 1993. Not only was it table-thumping
hilarious from start to finish but there was
an extended piece towards the end of the set,
his chunk about being high on LSD and being caught
by police, that was delivered with such lyricism
that it bordered on magic.
I would have loved to have heard his opinion
of Clinton's impeachment, 9-11, the invasion
of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the looting of the
Treasury by Wall Street but at least we have
his comedic legacy to enjoy, not the least of
which is the following:
“The world is like a ride in an amusement
park, and when you choose to go on it you think
it's real because that's how powerful our minds
are. The ride goes up and down, around and around,
it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly
colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a
while.
Many people have been on the ride a long
time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this
real, or is this just a ride?" And other people
have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey,
don't worry; don't be afraid. Ever. Because this
is just a ride."
And we … kill those
people.
"
Shut him up! I've got a lot invested
in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of
worry, look at my big bank account, and my family.
This has to be real."
It's just a ride. But
we always kill the good guys who try and tell us
that, you ever notice that? And let the demons
run amok.
But it doesn't matter, because
it's just a ride. And we can change it any time
we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work,
no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice,
right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear
want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy
guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead
see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to
change the world, right now, to a better ride....
Take
all that money we spend on weapons and defenses
each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing
and educating the poor of the world, which it would
pay for many times over, not one human being excluded,
and we could explore space, together, both inner
and outer, forever, in peace.”
=Lefty=
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